Beate Sørum

Digital Fundraising Consultant, b.bold

People like me always tell you you are losing money by not optimising your web page for mobile, making better forms and clearer content and calls to action. But do you know just how much? I’ve seen some real world-examples lately, and even I was shocked at the sheer amount of money left on the table.

I worked with several appeals for different charities over Christmas, but let’s focus on two of them. Traffic sources where quite similar, and the call to action was pretty much equal, and both campaigns where very successful, and the landing pages where both as close as possible to the actual payment.

One charity managed to get 8% of its mobile visitors to pay. The other only managed to convert 2,5% of its mobile visitors. I did the math. If charity two also managed to convert 8% of their mobile visitors, they would have raised CAD $56.000 more. That is some serious money to walk away from!

Even if we take a lower estimate, like 5%, they would have raised CAD $22.000 more.

So what does this mean for you?

It means that if on a dedicated landing page, you are converting less than 5% of mobile visitors, you are leaving money on the table. Lots of money. I strongly encourage you to find out.

These are some of the things you should look into fixing:

Make sure forms work for mobile visitors. Even if they make up a small share of your donations today, that might just be because you are scaring them away.

Don’t ask unnecessary questions. Yes, it’s nice to know how old your donors are, or how they found you, but is it crucial to processing the donation? If not – get rid of it. Every extra field in your donation forms lower your conversions. You can always ask follow-up questions later.

Does your layout indicate clear paths forward for the user? Pressing the wrong button and having to start over might just make someone give up. This is especially true on mobile, where horisontal scrolling suddenly has to happen to find action buttons.

Remove distractions. Does the landing page for donations have banners leading elsewhere? Is the form hidden far down the page, under menus, copy and unnecessary images? Make it front and center.

Good landing page design is an art and requires expertise, but the tips above should get you started pretty good! Think about the donor first – what are his or her needs in this situation? Make sure you fulfill them – and you’ll see your digital donations climb steadily.

Beate is a well-known international public speaker, who runs digital fundraising consultancy b.bold. She has more than five years of digital fundraising expertise, most of which is from the Norwegian Cancer Society, where she among other things doubled the digital fundraising return. Her special interests are user experience, landing page and donation form design, content strategy and using social media for donor stewardship. You can follow her on Twitter @BeateSorum

Laura Champion, Donor Relations Coordinator – Direct Response

Crohn’s and Colitis Canada

I am bad with confrontation. My face turns red, I stare at my feet and my first instinct is to run and hide in the corner. It’s a good thing I’m on the phone!

But as fundraisers, we have all been there. The phone rings and on the other side is a very displeased donor. Someone has issued the wrong receipt, sent too much mail or not enough mail. Perhaps they were excluded from a guest list. The donor is unhappy and they want you to know it.

As a millennial, I have easily avoided phone calls most of life. Call display, voicemail, texting and email have made it all too simple for me to go through my whole day without actually speaking to anyone. This has made my conflict resolutions skills mostly text based.

But one of the reasons I am a fundraiser and more specifically, an annual giving fundraiser is that it gives me the chance to speak to so many people. Most interactions are positive and cause my heart to soar! But every once in a while they are not the same type of inspiring.

Since I have met quite a few text based millennials among my fellow fundraisers, I have put together a few thoughts on how to maintain your composure and ease that pit in your stomach:

1) My motto both in the workplace and out is “Be a person”. Remember the reason that the donor is upset could be heightened by something else going on in their lives. It is a reminder to be kind, be honest and be present for those around you. A kind word from me may be all this donor needs to get through a tough situation.

2) Do not take it personally. It’s easy to internalize the criticism, especially if the mistake was your own. Remember that everyone makes mistakes. When you’ve completed the call with the donor, take a walk or get a coffee and settle back in. It is too easy to carry negativity – be careful not to let it burn you out.

3) Donors want to be heard. Whether it is a compliment, a complaint or a story, people want to feel heard. It is our job as fundraisers to understand that donors are giving to our organization because of a connection. When they take the time to call you – hear them. They are telling you what you can do to retain them long term.

4) Donors do not call unless they care. They do not want to leave your organization – they just want you to make it right. These crisis calls are an opportunity to learn more about these individuals and their motivation for giving.

5) Tell me about a time when… Remember you are always learning and growing in your role. These crisis calls may be difficult but it is important to think of them as an opportunity to improve your skills and gather material for the next interview!

With so much talk emphasis on being donor-centric and taking donors through their journey, we need to remember there may be some wrong turns or road blocks. Ensuring that everyone in your organization understands how to deal with dissatisfied donors without taking it to heart will lead to a healthier organization and a healthier donor base. Retention is the new acquisition.

And keep in mind – you are not alone. We have all been through a crisis – it is part of what forms a great fundraiser. Relationship management means working with donors when they are happy and when they are not.

Laura Champion is Donor Relations Coordinator at Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. She has a thirst for fundraising knowledge and is always open to discussion. You can find her on twitter @charitablelaura.

Jessica Lewis, Fundraising Innovation Consultant, hjc

November is here, the leaves have changed colours and the air is crisp and cool. Most people are starting to think about the holiday season and shopping. Not fundraisers, many of us have been thinking of the year-end holiday season for the past few months. As a fundraising consultant at hjc, my office is in full swing helping our clients launch their holiday campaigns.

If you haven’t started planning yet, don’t fret! Here are 5 tips to help you get started:

Determine your goals for this year. Start by looking at last year’s results. Was your holiday campaign a success? What worked well and what didn’t? Establish benchmarks this year, so you can measure your results and improve year over year.

Develop your creative concept. What is the main focus of your campaign? Create your key messaging and calls to action. Don’t forget to make it personal and leverage stories, imagery and video content to illustrate the mission of your organization.

Leverage symbolic giving. Symbolic giving is an easy and interactive way for people to support you, give gifts and send cards to their loved ones during the holidays. Do you have an existing symbolic gift program? There are multiple ways that you can transition your traditional giving program to online, either with a simple campaign landing page and custom donation form or a more robust e-commerce microsite like The Redwood’s Safe Haven Store.

Integrate your campaign across channels. What is your DM team planning? How can you integrate your offline and online holiday program? Make sure you have consistent messaging across your end of year DM letter, email appeals and social media communications.

Promote your campaign online. Invest in online advertising. Have you thought about Google AdWords, Facebook Ads or blogger outreach? Leverage your Google Grant, but also invest in paid ads as the holiday season is a competitive time of year for popular key words.

The best thing about symbolic giving is that it’s the gift that keeps on giving! You can change up the design and messaging and use the catalogue all year-round. For more helpful tips on symbolic giving and how to launch a new program online check out my session with Wendy Bray from The Redwood at Congress called “Small Shop Success: Traditional Gift Giving Program Transitions to Online Symbolic Gift Store.”

Jessica Lewis is a Fundraising Innovation Consultant at hjc, a global consulting agency in the nonprofit sector. She helps her clients us web technologies to market, fundraise, advocate and build brand awareness. Jessica will be presenting at Congress 2014 and you can follow her on Twitter @jessklewis.